Court denies convicted school shooter's appeal of sentence

Ohio News

Oct 9, 2019

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio appeals court has denied a convicted school shooter’s sentencing appeal and affirmed his convictions.
A three-judge panel of Ohio’s Second District Court of Appeals found the trial judge acted properly in Ely Serna’s sentencing. Serna pleaded guilty to charges including attempted murder in the 2017 shooting at a high school in West Liberty and was sentenced to 23 ½ years in prison.
One teen survived critical injuries. Another had minor injuries.
The now 19-year-old Serna’s attorney argued the judge erred in researching a prescription drug Serna used and didn’t take his age into account for sentencing.
The panel ruled the judge permissibly relied on basic information about the medication and wasn’t required to consider Serna’s age.
Serna’s attorney, Stephen Hardwick, declined to comment on whether they would appeal further.